LANGLEY – Another big second period, another big win for the New Westminster Salmonbellies. As they did all regular season long, the Bellies again outplayed their opponents in the second period of play on Friday night, outscoring Langley 7-2 in the middle frame, helping the Fish to a big 15-7 win. New West now holds a 2-0 series lead over the Thunder in their WLA Semi-Final series.

New West had a bit of a slow start, falling behind by scores of 2-0 and 3-1 early in the first period of game two. Eventually the Bellies offence started to roll though. As Scott Stewart scored his first of the night on the power play, Jordan McBride added a pair and Chris Seller scored in transition to give New West a 4-3 advantage heading into the second.

Similar to game one, the middle stanza was dominated by New West. With the game tied at four, the Bellies rattled off five straight goals, including an Ilija Gajic hat trick. New West would score twice more before the period ended, to hold an 11-5 lead through 40 minutes of play. Jamie Floris, Peter McFetridge , McBride and Stewart provided the offence, as they each added a single in the period. Langley’s defence looked a bit tired mid way through the game, as their roster adjustments may have been the cause. The interesting combination of Tyler Chambers and Jamie Hackel were inserted into the lineup, as the Thunder tried to rough up the Bellies. It seemed to backfire as Hackel only had two shifts, resulting in two fights, while Chambers saw limited to no action. The fights created no momentum for the home team, as both Salmonbellies’ Rory Smith and Bubba Westwood did not back down when challenged by Hackel.

New West added to their lead in the third, outscoring Langley 4-2 to close out the game with an impressive 15-7 win on the road. Goalie Tyler Richards had a solid outing, stopping 31 of 38 shots, to pick up his first win of the 2009 post season. While yet again the offence was spread out, as eight Salmonbellie players had at least two points. Peter Morgan (5A), Jamie Floris (1G 1A), Ilija Gajic (3G 1A), Jordan McBride (3G 2A), Peter McFetridge (2G), Cliff Smith (1G 4A) Jordan Hall (2A) and Scott Stewart (3G 1A). The Bellies power play has been dynamite so far in this series. Scoring five times on seven chances, to lead the league with a sparkling 71.43% with the man advantage.

Combined with a 12-5 game one win, the Bellies have outscored their playoff opponents 27-12 through two games and look to be in complete control of this series. New West’s defence has been stellar to say the least. Shutting down Langley’s snipers through the first two games. Garrett Billings, who finished the regular season third in scoring with 77 points, has only four points so far in these playoffs. Kyle Belton, who finished second on the team with 29 goals for Langley, has yet to find the back of the net in this series. While Alex Turner and Jamie Lincoln have a combined five points.

The recipe for success seems pretty simple for New West through two games. If they keep playing like they have been, this series may be over soon. The Bellies will be back at it on Sunday night at Queens Park Arena to play game three of this WLA Semi-Final Series. Game time is at 7:45pm.

Salmonbellies 2009 Playoff Schedule:

Game 1: New West 12 – Langley 5

Game 2: New West 15 – Langley 7

Game 3: Sunday August 9th Langley @ New West 7:45pm QPA

Game 4: Tuesday August 11th New West @ Langley 7:45pm Langley Events Centre

Game 5: Thursday August 13th Langley @ New West 7:45pm QPA * (If Necessary)

Game 6: Saturday August 15th New West @ Langley 7:45pm Langley Events Centre * (If Necessary)

Game 7: Monday August 17th Langley @ New West 7:45pm QPA * (If Necessary)